De-registration method, home nodeb (hnb), and home nodeb gateway (hnb gw)

ABSTRACT

The present invention relates to the field of communication technology, and a de-registration method, a Home NodeB (HNB) and a Home NodeB Gateway (HNB GW) are disclosed. In an embodiment, the present invention provides a de-registration method, comprising: initiating, by an HNB GW, release of pre-registration resources corresponding to user equipment (UE) after the HNB GW receives indication information indicating that the UE moves to another cell from a source HNB. Applying the embodiment of the present invention can release pre-registration resources in time and reduce waste of resources.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of International Application No.PCT/CN2009/073037, filed on Jul. 31, 2009, which claims priority toChinese Patent Application No. 200810216523.4, filed on Sep. 26, 2008,both of which are hereby incorporated by reference in their entireties.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to the field of communication technology,and more particularly, to a de-registration method, a Home NodeB gateway(HNB GW), and a Home NodeB (HNB).

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

With the rapid development of Internet services and the extensiveapplication of broadband access networks and wireless networks,high-speed and easily accessed networks are drawing wide attention.Users need high-speed, convenient, and low-cost hand-held wirelessequipments to enjoy wireless data services. Meanwhile, with the everincreasing of users of 3^(rd) Generation (3G) and ever deepening studyon Long Term Evolution (LTE), as a typical representative of privateNodeBs, an HNB or an Access Point (AP) is drawing more and moreinterests. The HNB refers to a miniaturized NodeB for Home or office,and it may be completely private, or can also be open to public withdifferent priorities or authorities that are set. It is privately ownedbut not owned by the government or operators, and its target uses may bea small range of users, or may be a wide range of users.

In existing technical solutions, when user equipment (UE) accesses tothe HNB and is authorized by the HNB, the HNB needs to send aregistration message of the UE to an HNB GW, and the HNB GW will assignand reserve corresponding Iuh Interface resources for the UE, which areknown as pre-registration resources, such as UE Context ID (whichidentifies a signaling connection of the UE on the Iuh interface). Thecorresponding Iuh interface resources remain valid until the HNB findsthat the UE moves out of the coverage of the HNB. After that, the HNBreleases the assigned pre-registration resource for the UE, and sends ade-register message of the UE to notify the HNB GW that the HNB GW shallrelease the assigned pre-registration resources for the UE.

During implementing the present invention, the inventor found that theexisting UE de-registration procedure is initiated only by the HNB, andif the HNB does not receive any information of the UE within a LocationArea Update (LAU) period, the HNB determines that the UE has moved outof the coverage of the HNB, and needs to send a de-register requestmessage and clear pre-registration resources.

If the LAU period is set relatively long, the HNB generally cannotdetect the movement of the UE at the first time when the UE in an idleor Cell_PCH state moves to another cell, and therefore will not initiatethe de-registration procedure in time. Therefore, within a very long LAUperiod, the pre-registration resources including the UE Context ID onthe HNB and the HNB GW are reserved even though the UE has moved toanother cell, resulting in waste of resources.

If the LAU period is set relatively short, a UE falling within the HNBwill frequently send LAU messages to the HNB, causing waste ofresources, reducing frequency utilization efficiency, and increasing thepower consumption of the UE.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The primary technical problem to be solved by embodiments of the presentinvention is to provide a de-registration method, an HNB and an HNB GW,in order to release pre-registration resources assigned for a UE intime.

To solve the above technical problem, in an embodiment, the presentinvention provides a de-registration method, which includes thefollowing steps:

An HNB GW receives indication information indicating that a UE has movedto another cell from a source HNB, and initiates release ofpre-registration resources corresponding to the UE.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the present inventionprovides an HNB GW, which includes a transceiver and a releaseinitiating unit.

The transceiver is configured to receive indication information thatindicates a UE has moved to another cell from a source HNB and is sentby the HNB GW.

The release initiating unit is configured to initiate release ofpre-registration resources corresponding to the UE after the transceiverreceives the indication information.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the present inventionprovides an HNB, which includes a Base Station transceiver and a BaseStation release initiating unit.

The Base Station transceiver is configured to receive indicationinformation that indicates a UE has moved to another cell from a sourceHNB and is forwarded by an HNB GW to the HNB.

The Base Station release initiating unit is configured to initiaterelease of pre-registration resources corresponding to the UE after thetransceiver receives the indication information.

It can be seen from the above embodiments that the HNB GW initiatesrelease of pre-registration resources corresponding to a UE through thereceived indication information indicating that the UE has moved toanother cell, thereby enabling the HNB GW and the HNB to know as fast aspossible that the UE has moved out of the coverage of the HNB cell andrelease the pre-registration resources assigned for the UE in time,therefore reducing waste of resources.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a flow chart of a de-registration method according to anembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a flow chart of another de-registration method according to anembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a structural diagram of an HNB GW according to an embodimentof the present invention; and

FIG. 4 is a structural diagram of an HNB according to an embodiment ofthe present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

For better understanding the purposes, technical solutions, andadvantages of the present invention, the technical solutions provided inthe embodiments of the present invention are illustrated in detail belowwith reference to the accompanying drawings.

A de-registration method is provided in a first embodiment of thepresent invention. Referring to FIG. 1, the method includes thefollowing steps:

Step 201: An HNB GW acquires a message indicating that a UE has moved toanother cell.

The HNB GW can learn that the UE has moved to another cell by using thefollowing methods.

Method 1: The UE initiates a register request to the HNB GW in anothercell, and at this time, the HNB GW can know that the UE has moved out ofthe coverage of the HNB;

Method 2: When the HNB GW has a corresponding interface with a RadioNetwork Controller (RNC) of a neighboring macro network or a neighboringHNB GW, and when the UE registers with a cell controlled by the RNC ofthe neighboring macro network or the HNB GW, the RNC of the neighboringmacro network or the neighboring HNB GW can analyze that the UE at onetime camps on an HNB in the HNB GW by parsing signaling, and notify theHNB GW that the UE has moved to another cell through a message (such asa Cell update message).

Method 3: The UE will initiate an LAU procedure when the UE moves out ofthe coverage of the HNB, and notifies a core network of updatinginformation about a location area where the UE locates through the LAUprocess so that the core network can know that the UE has moved out oforiginal cell of the UE, and can find corresponding HNB GW according toa location area code of the original cell reported by the UE and send anotification message to the HNB GW to notify the HNB GW that the UE hasmoved out of the coverage of the HNB.

Step 202: The HNB GW detects whether pre-registration resources assignedby the HNB GW for the UE exist, and if the pre-registration resourcesexist, releases the pre-registration resources, and sends a UEde-register request to the HNB to notify the HNB that the UE has movedto another cell and releases the pre-registration resources assigned bythe HNB for the UE.

Step 203: Optionally, if, in step 202, the HNB detects that nopre-registration resources exist, the HNB sends a de-register responsemessage to the HNB GW to notify the HNB GW that the pre-registrationresources have been released.

A second embodiment is similar to this embodiment, with the exception ofthe time of initiating the de-registration procedure.

Specifically, the HNB GW sends a UE de-register request to the HNB aftera preset period of time when the HNB GW acquires the message indicatingthat the UE has moved to another cell, to notify the HNB that the UE hasmoved to another cell and release the pre-registration resourcesassigned for the UE.

To prevent the UE from switching back to the HNB cell again andinitiating a register request of the UE from the HNB cell in a shorttime, that is, reconstructing registration information after releasingthe registration resources in a short time, the second embodiment of thepresent invention sets that the HNB GW sends the de-register request toa corresponding HNB only if the HNB GW does not receive a message sentby the UE from the HNB for a period of time.

In the first and second embodiments, the HNB GW detects whether the HNBGW itself has pre-registration resources after receiving indicationinformation indicating that the UE moves to another cell, and if the HNBGW itself has the pre-registration resources, releases thepre-registration resources and sends a de-register request message tothe HNB immediately or after a preset period of time. If the HNB doesnot detect any pre-registration resources, the HNB sends a de-registerresponse message to the HNB GW.

FIG. 2 is another de-registration method provided in an embodiment ofthe present invention. As shown in FIG. 2, the method includes thefollowing steps.

Step 301: An HNB GW receives a message indicating that a UE has moved toanother cell.

Step 302: The HNB GW sends information indicating that the UE has movedto another cell to an HNB.

Step 303: The HNB releases pre-registration resources assigned by theHNB for the UE if the HNB detects the pre-registration resources, andimmediately sends a de-register request message to the HNB GW. However,to prevent the UE from switching back to the HNB GW cell again andinitiating a register request of the UE from the HNB GW cell in a shorttime, i.e., reconstructing registration information after releasing theregistration resources in a short time, the HNB can also send thede-register request message to the HNB GW after a period of time.

Step 304: If the HNB GW does not detect pre-registration resourcesassigned by the HNB for the UE at the HNB GW, the HNB GW sends ade-register response message to the HNB to notify the HNB that thepre-registration resources on the HNB GW have been released.

FIG. 3 describes a schematic diagram of an HNB GW according to anembodiment of the present invention, which includes a transceiver 401and a release initiating unit 402.

The transceiver 401 is configured to receive indication information thatindicates a UE moves to another cell from a source HNB and is sent bythe HNB GW, which includes receiving a register request initiated to theHNB GW by the UE in another cell, a Cell Update message of the UE sentby an RNC of a neighboring macro network or a neighboring HNB GW, and amessage indicating that the UE moves into a macro network sent by a corenetwork.

The transceiver may be further configured to receive a de-registerresponse message sent by the HNB. After the HNB GW sends the de-registerrequest message to the HNB, if the HNB does not detect thepre-registration resources of the UE, the HNB sends the de-registerresponse message to the HNB GW to notify the HNB GW that thepre-registration resources assigned by the HNB have been released.

The transceiver is further configured to forward the indicationinformation to the HNB, and receive a de-register request message sentby the HNB after receiving the indication information.

The release initiating unit 402 is configured to initiate release of thepre-registration resources corresponding to the UE after the transceiverreceives the indication information.

When the transceiver receives the indication information andpre-registration resources corresponding to the UE exist in the HNB GW,the pre-registration resources in the HNB GW are released, and the HNBis notified of releasing the pre-registration resources corresponding tothe UE by sending the de-register request message to the HNB immediatelyor after a preset period of time through the transceiver.

The release initiating unit is further configured to release thepre-registration resources corresponding to the UE in the HNB GW afterthe transceiver receives the de-register request message.

It can be seen from the above that the HNB GW determines whether the UEmoves to another cell before sending the de-register request to the HNBand releases the reserved Iuh resources, thereby reducing waste ofresources.

FIG. 4 describes a schematic structural diagram of an HNB according toan embodiment of the present invention, which includes a base stationtransceiver 501 and a base station release initiating unit 502.

The base station transceiver 501 is configured to receive indicationinformation which indicates that a UE moves to another cell from asource HNB and is forwarded by an HNB GW to the HNB. It includesreceiving a register request initiated to the HNB GW by the UE inanother cell, a Cell Update message of the UE sent by an RNC of aneighboring macro network or a neighboring HNB GW, and a messageindicating that the UE moves into a macro network sent by a corenetwork.

The Base station transceiver may further be configured to receive ade-register response message sent by the HNB GW to the HNB. After theHNB sends the de-register request message to the HNB GW, if the HNB GWitself does not detect pre-registration resources, the HNB GW sends thede-register response message to the HNB to notify the HNB that thepre-registration resources have been released.

The Base station transceiver is configured to receive a de-registerrequest message sent by the HNB GW after receiving the indicationinformation.

After the transceiver receives the indication information, the Basestation release initiating unit 502 is configured to initiate release ofthe pre-registration resources corresponding to the UE.

After the Base station transceiver receives the indication informationand pre-registration resources corresponding to the UE exist in the HNB,the pre-registration resources in the HNB are released, and the HNB GWis notified of releasing the pre-registration resources corresponding tothe UE by sending the de-register request message to the HNB GWimmediately or after a preset period of time through the transceiver.

After the Base station transceiver receives the de-register requestmessage, the Base station release initiating unit is configured torelease the pre-registration resources corresponding to the UE in theHNB.

It can be seen from the above embodiments that the HNB GW receivesindication information indicating that a UE moves to another cell andinitiates release of the pre-registration resources corresponding to theUE, thereby enabling the HNB GW to acquire the message indicating thatthe UE has moved out of the coverage of the HNB cell and release thepre-registration resources assigned for the UE in time, reducing wasteof resources.

It will be clearly understood by those skilled in the art through theabove description of various embodiments that, the present invention canbe implemented by means of software and a necessary general hardwareplatform, or, of course, by means of hardware, but the former ispreferred in many cases. Based on such understanding, the technicalsolutions of the present invention, or the portions contributing to theprior art can essentially be embodied in form of a software product. Thecomputer software product is stored in one storage medium and includesseveral instructions to cause a computer device, which may be a personalcomputer, a server or a network device, to perform the methods describedin the embodiments of the present invention.

The present invention has been illustrated and described with referenceto some exemplary embodiments of the present invention, but it should beunderstood by those of ordinary skill in the art that various changescan be made thereto in forms and details without departing from thespirit and scope of the present invention.

1. A de-registration method, comprising: receiving, by a Home NodeBgateway (HNB GW), indication information indicating that user equipment(UE) has moved to another cell from a source Home NodeB (HNB); and basedon the indication information, initiating, by the HNB GW, release ofpre-registration resources corresponding to the UE.
 2. Thede-registration method of claim 1, wherein the receiving, by the HNB GW,the indication information indicating that the UE has moved to anothercell from the source HNB is: receiving, by the HNB GW, a registerrequest initiated to the HNB GW by the UE in another cell; or receiving,by the HNB GW, a Cell Update message of the UE sent by a Radio NetworkController (RNC) of a neighboring macro network or a neighboring HNB GW;or receiving, by the HNB GW, a message indicating that the UE has movedinto a macro network sent by a core network.
 3. The de-registrationmethod of claim 1, wherein the initiating, by the HNB GW, release ofpre-registration resources corresponding to the UE comprises: detecting,by the HNB GW, whether the HNB GW itself has pre-registration resourcescorresponding to the UE, and if the HNB GW itself has thepre-registration resources corresponding to the UE, releasing thepre-registration resources, and notifying that the HNB shall releasepre-registration resources corresponding to the UE by sending ade-register request to the HNB.
 4. The de-registration method of claim3, further comprising: receiving, by the HNB GW, a de-register responsemessage returned by the HNB, wherein the de-register response message isa message returned to the HNB GW by the HNB, and the message is returnedwhen the HNB receives the de-register request and does not detectpre-registration resources corresponding to the UE in itself.
 5. Thede-registration method of claim 1, wherein the initiating, by the HNBGW, release of the pre-registration resources corresponding to the UEcomprises: forwarding, by the HNB GW, to the HNB the indicationinformation indicating that the UE has moved to another cell from theHNB; and releasing, by the HNB GW, pre-registration resourcescorresponding to the UE in the HNB GW according to a de-register requestsent by the HNB after the HNB receives the indication information. 6.The de-registration method of claim 5, further comprising: detecting, bythe HNB, whether the HNB itself has pre-registration resourcescorresponding to the UE after receiving the indication informationforwarded by the HNB GW; and if the HNB itself has the pre-registrationresources corresponding to the UE, releasing the pre-registrationresources.
 7. The de-registration method of claim 5, further comprising:sending, by the HNB GW, a de-register response to the HNB, wherein thede-register response is a message returned to the HNB by the HNB GW, andthe message is returned after the HNB GW detects itself when receivingthe de-register request and does not detect the pre-registrationresources corresponding to the UE in the HNB GW.
 8. The de-registrationmethod of claim 3, wherein the sending the de-register request messageto the HNB comprises: sending, by the HNB GW, the de-register request tothe HNB immediately; or sending, by the HNB GW, the de-register requestto the HNB after a preset period of time.
 9. The de-registration methodof claim 4, wherein the sending the de-register request message to theHNB comprises: sending, by the HNB GW, the de-register request to theHNB immediately; or sending, by the HNB GW, the de-register request tothe HNB after a preset period of time.
 10. A Home NodeB gateway (HNBGW), comprising: a transceiver, configured to receive indicationinformation that indicates user equipment (UE) has moved to another cellfrom a source Home NodeB (HNB); and a release initiating unit,configured to initiate release of pre-registration resourcescorresponding to the UE after the transceiver receives the indicationinformation.
 11. The HNB GW of claim 10, wherein: the transceiver isconfigured to receive a register request initiated to the HNB GW by theUE in another cell; or the transceiver is configured to receive a CellUpdate message of the UE sent by a Radio Network Controller (RNC) of aneighboring macro network or a neighboring HNB GW; or the transceiver isconfigured to receive a message indicating that the UE has moved into amacro network sent by a core network.
 12. The HNB GW of claim 10,wherein: the release initiating unit is configured to: when thetransceiver receives the indication information and the pre-registrationresources corresponding to the UE exist in the HNB GW, release thepre-registration resources in the HNB GW, and notify the HNB that theHNB shall release pre-registration resources corresponding to the UE bysending a de-register request to the HNB through the transceiver. 13.The HNB GW of claim 11, wherein: the release initiating unit isconfigured to: when the transceiver receives the indication informationand the pre-registration resources corresponding to the UE exist in theHNB GW, release the pre-registration resources in the HNB GW, and notifythe HNB that the HNB shall release pre-registration resourcescorresponding to the UE by sending a de-register request to the HNBthrough the transceiver.
 14. The HNB GW of claim 10, wherein: thetransceiver is further configured to forward the indication informationto the HNB, and receive a de-register request sent by the HNB after theHNB receives the indication information; and the release initiating unitis further configured to release pre-registration resourcescorresponding to the UE in the HNB GW after the transceiver receives thede-register request.
 15. The HNB GW of claim 11, wherein: thetransceiver is further configured to forward the indication informationto the HNB, and receive a de-register request sent by the HNB after theHNB receives the indication information; and the release initiating unitis further configured to release pre-registration resourcescorresponding to the UE in the HNB GW after the transceiver receives thede-register request.
 16. A Home NodeB (HNB), comprising: a base stationtransceiver, configured to receive information that indicates userequipment (UE) has moved to another cell from the HNB and is sent by aHome NodeB gateway (HNB GW) to the HNB; and a base station releaseinitiating unit, configured to initiate release of pre-registrationresources corresponding to the UE after the transceiver receives theinformation.
 17. The HNB of claim 16, wherein: the base stationtransceiver is configured to receive a register request forwarded by theHNB GW, wherein the register request is initiated to the HNB GW by theUE in another cell; or the base station transceiver is configured toreceive a Cell Update message of the UE forwarded by the HNB GW, whereinthe Cell Update message is sent to the HNB GW by a Radio NetworkController (RNC) of a neighboring macro network of the HNB GW or aneighboring HNB GW; or the base station transceiver is configured toreceive a message forwarded by the HNB GW, wherein the messageindicating that the UE has moved into a macro network is sent to the HNBGW by a core network.
 18. The HNB of claim 16, wherein: the base stationrelease initiating unit is configured to: when the base stationtransceiver receives the information and pre-registration resourcescorresponding to the UE exist in the MB, release the pre-registrationresources in the HNB, and notify the HNB GW that the HNB GW shallrelease pre-registration resources corresponding to the UE by sending ade-register request to the HNB GW through the base station transceiver.19. The HNB of claim 17, wherein: the base station release initiatingunit is configured to: when the base station transceiver receives theinformation and pre-registration resources corresponding to the UE existin the MB, release the pre-registration resources in the HNB, and notifythe HNB GW that the HNB GW shall release pre-registration resourcescorresponding to the UE by sending a de-register request to the HNB GWthrough the base station transceiver.
 20. The HNB of claim 16,comprising: the base station transceiver is configured to receive ade-register request sent by the HNB GW, wherein the de-register requestis sent by the HNB GW after the HNB GW receives indication informationindicating that the UE has moved to another cell from the source HNB;and the base station release initiating unit is configured to releasethe pre-registration resources corresponding to the UE in the HNB afterthe base station transceiver receives the de-register request.